US President Donald Trump’s refusal to condemn White supremacists during the recent debate is expected to create a significant impact on the Black votes, according to the chair emeritus of Political Science and distinguished professor at Howard University, Dr Lorenzo Morris.
His research and teaching include a wide range of electoral issues and political matters, including African American politics, public policy and the role of racial minorities in party politics.
Speaking to journalists at the Virtual Reporting Tour (VRT) press briefing recently, Morris said the president’s controversial remarks could affect the overall vote of African Americans and other groups.
“And if you look at the media, it's clear that the media takes it as one that supports White supremacy. And, therefore, you can expect an impact on Black voting,” he said.
“I think maybe less in terms of orientation, nobody's going to change positions, but it might motivate more people. However, I would suspect that it will motivate even many more people on the moderate left and the White electorate than it would in the Black,” added Dr Morris, who highlighted the importance of the African American vote and its impact on the 2020 presidential elections.
VRT, being organised by the US Department of State in collaboration with Meridian International Centre, is an eight-week programme for more than 225 journalists, including those from the Middle East, to cover the upcoming US elections remotely.
In his presentation, Dr Morris also pointed out that one of the things that is often overlooked about the African American vote, commonly known as the Black vote, is that “across space and across time, since the 1960s it has been a stable and constant contributor to the development of national and local American politics”.
“In spite of the disappointment exhibited by many commentators after the 2016 election, in which they said the vote declined, I want to argue basically that it did not decline, it simply stabilised. That may be illustrated by the fact that since the Voting Rights Act occurred, which was a singular moment, Black voting has continually gone up or stabilised.”
“Now, why other than moving towards equality, is a Black vote important? One simple fact helps to explain it. That is that since World War II, no Democrat, except for Lyndon Baines Johnson, has won the presidency without the Black vote,” Dr Morris noted.
“That is to say no Democrat, except for Johnson, has won the White vote. In this stellar moment for Black voter achievement, 2012, in terms of turnout, everyone celebrates the contribution of the overall American electorate to the election of Obama and are disappointed with what happened with Clinton, if you're on the Democratic side,” he explained. “But you must note that if you remove the Black vote from the 2012 peak, then Obama lost to Romney, not just by a little bit but by a landslide, 10% is a landslide.”
About the impact of the current administration’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Black vote, Dr Morris said survey results showed it has been severe.
“So, along with Hispanics and others, it has created a very negative impact on their sense of government response. And one of the things that is just shown in the Washington Post today is that in terms of economic recovery, it has been worse for Blacks and particularly Black women,” he added.
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